New Jersey state leaders from Bergen County urge faster action on light rail plan in Northern Valley

ENGLEWOOD - Bergen County legislators are urging the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to move ahead with a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) studying the effects of light rail coming to the Northern Valley.

The FTA will decide if NJ Transit can continue the $800 million project to extend the Hudson-Bergen line to Englewood with a DEIS released in 2011 in the coming weeks.

The light rail, which terminates at North Bergen, would add stops in Fairview, Ridgefield, Palisades Park, Leonia and Englewood.

Local legislators agreed to advocate bipartisan support extend the light rail using the current DEIS, also known as the Northern Branch Corridor Project, during a meeting at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center on Sept. 25.

The DEIS, released in December 2011, originally proposed extending the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail to a terminus in Tenafly or Route 4 in Englewood.

After contentious public hearings in early 2012, where Tenafly residents blasted the idea of having the light rail come to their borough and a push by Englewood officials to terminate the light rail at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, NJ Transit decided to have the line end at the hospital.

The federal government would pay for half of the $800 million project, with the state coming up with the remaining $400 million. Legislators plan to host another meeting in the near future to determine where the state can identify this funding.

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-37, said Englewood Hospital and Medical Center is a "proper fit" for a light rail terminus since it is surrounded by a commercial area and situated between two main Englewood roads. Gordon requested the FTA accept a mediation of the current DEIS, as a supplementary DEIS would only delay the project.

At the Sept. 25 meeting, legislators estimated a supplementary DEIS would delay the project another 12 to 18 months, including another long public comment period.

Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Bergen, said the light rail project was "studied to death" since officials have discussed restoring this service since 1977.

"We've had study after study," said Cardinale. "It's time to start to do something. The change from terminating in Tenafly to Englewood is not a big one."

While Bergen County legislators work in partnership with their counterparts in southern New Jersey, Gordon said officials needed to keep in mind that Bergen County was competing with another light rail project - the Glassboro-Camden Line - that would connect Rowan University to Camden. NJ Transit told Gordon that the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail was ahead of the Glassboro-Camden Line on the construction list, and Gordon would like to keep it that way.

"We need to get cars off the highway and get people on the rails to increase the quality of life and commute," said Gordon.

Legislators also raised concerns that if the project is delayed, the cost of construction will continue to increase with time.

When the project was first proposed years ago, it was a fraction of the current $800 million cost, said Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, R-39.

The amount of money spent on doing studies on the project has come close to surpassing the original cost, said Schepisi.

"We're underserved by mass transit despite being the most populated county in New Jersey," said Schepisi. "It's a project that must absolutely move forward. Any person who ever sat in rush traffic trying to get to work on the George Washington Bridge or the Lincoln Tunnel would agree that this would be some welcome relief."